


Everything is Perfect/Nothing's Real

by allin_ev_itable



Series: Hurting Henry Hidgens' Feelings [3]
Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Henry finally talks about them, M/M, Workin' Boys, also gay shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-24 09:52:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18163652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allin_ev_itable/pseuds/allin_ev_itable
Summary: Henry theorized this exact scenario thirty years ago.But what if it wasn't simply a theory?FINAL PART OF THE HURTING HENRY HIDGENS' FEELINGS SERIES (Please read the first two installments before reading this one, it'll make more sense that way)





	Everything is Perfect/Nothing's Real

  Henry Hidgens is fucked.

  He's got it under control, but he's still fucked.

  As he paces the floor, he's thankful that everyone else is upstairs getting drunk and he has time to temporarily return to isolation and figure things out. He had made some excuse about needing to go to the lab and do some more research on the blue shit, which just made the others nod and let him walk out of the room. He quickly checks everything over. The gates are locked, the security cameras are perfectly placed to cover every spot of the perimeter of his home, and just in case, he's fully equipped in case all else fails.

  He checks his reflection in the mirror again, and nothing's changed. His eyes are still flashing bright blue, and it's more prominent than before. It's impossible to hide now. He needs to think of a way to explain without causing chaos. But then again, this isn't something he could talk about with ease. He still has trouble understanding it himself. 

  There's a knock on the door, and his eyes return to their natural color. He's relieved, but he knows it's only a matter of time before the flashing returns. As he crosses the room to open the door, he hopes it's not who he thinks it is. That hope fades when he sees Ted standing there, hands in his pockets. 

  "Alice is making them watch Moana. I decided to duck out."

  Henry laughs softly and steps aside to let Ted in before shutting the door behind him. "You should've stayed, it's a good movie."

  "I don't really like kids' movies," Ted replies with a shrug, looking around the room. "So, what's going on with the blue shit?"

  It takes the professor a second of confusion before he remembers he was supposed to be in the lab running tests, so he immediately fumbles over a response. "I've got a few tests that I'm running that need some time before I'll have the results, but I'm convinced that there's quite possibly a way for the aliens to infect us without entirely doing so, allowing it to hide in our subconscious for years, even decades, before finally spreading to take over."

  Ted listens to Henry talk and looks more perplexed with each word. "So they can just hide in our bodies? That sounds crazy."

  As if on cue, the excruciating migraine returns, this time for the third time that day. He groans loudly and collapses, feeling as though he's being electrocuted from the head down. It's another few passing seconds of pain and blurred vision before it dissipates, and then he can tell that Ted is yelling out his name in horror.

  "What the hell is going on?! You can't brush this shit off again!" he snaps, and Henry knows it's because he's scared. 

  "I...okay," the professor starts, regaining his strength and getting up from the floor to take a seat. He grabs his cigarettes from the table and lights the first one he's had in weeks. He had pretty much quit, but this occasion was acceptable for him to just smoke that one. He doesn't think he can get through the story without it. After a couple drags and seconds of silence, he sighs and looks at the floor, too scared to look at Ted in fear of the flashing color returning. 

  "Remember the musical I'm writing? Workin' Boys?"

  Ted nods enthusiastically, the mention of the show making him grin. He loved hearing the other talk about it whenever he had the chance. "Yeah, why?"

  "...Well, it's based on a true story. All of those boys were my closest friends. My _best_ friends."

  "Were?" Ted asks, his brows scrunching up as he sat in a chair in front of Henry. "What happened?"

  The man takes another long inhalation, wishing he at least had enough common sense to go grab some booze to take the edge off before he had started the story. "Do you also remember how I said I theorized this exact scenario thirty years ago? And how Paul was skeptical about that?" Ted simply hums an agreement and Henry can no longer hide.

  "There's a reason for that. And it wasn't so much a theory as it was a prediction."

**~*~**

  Henry Hidgens looked at his watch for what felt like the thousandth time. He had been early, but now it was 5:09 and he was still the only person there. He knew full well that the other boys weren't as picky about time as he was, but they also knew he would never let them hear the end of it if they arrived much later. Nevertheless, he just sighed and pushed his sleeve back down over his wrist, looking around the football field. Not a single person was in sight, which was admittedly different than the usual few people walking around, but he figured they were all most likely stuck in afternoon traffic. That's probably where the others were too.

  He decided that waiting by himself was getting too boring and decided to take a stroll on his own. He couldn't really go very far though. No matter how many new stores or diners that opened up around town, Hatchetfield felt so incredibly small, but was also the whole world to Henry. It's the place he had grown up, and despite how tiny it was, he could never see himself leaving. He had all he wanted right there. A stable business job, close friends, regular musicals playing at the Starlight. What more could he want?

  As he circled back to where he'd been, he could see someone walking toward him from a distance. He could tell who it was right away, the ugly tie giving the man away. Stu always wore the most atrocious ties, but Henry couldn't help but laugh at them. "How are you supposed to play in that suit?" he asked the man with a chuckle, but as he got closer, Henry noticed something different about Stu. The way he was walking towards him, with a slight smile that just didn't look right. 

  And when he finally got close enough, he realized that Stu was humming. That was definitely different. Stu didn't hum. He didn't like doing things like that, singing or dancing. So when he began to sing, and his expression turned to something more sinister, Henry went from confused to frightened. 

  "What's going on? Stu, what are you doing?!"

  "I want you to join me, Henry! We can sing together forever! Doesn't that sound great?"

  As he began to back up, Stu only walked closer to him, until he finally grabbed him and covered his mouth. Henry's mouth began to burn, and the sharp taste of metal made him squirm to try and get out of his friend's grasp. The burning sensation moved down his throat but still lingered in his mouth as he managed to push the other away and take a step back. 

  The sound of a gunshot made the man flinch, and the sight of his friend laying on the ground made him feel like he was sinking.

**~*~**

  "...I assume that Stu was their trial run because no outbreak happened, and the government organization that covered up his death told me there were a few other casualties, but since the population in Hatchetfield was so small and spread out back then, they had been able to catch on and contain it. They told the public that Stu had been killed while being robbed. The other boys...they knew I was with him when he died. They blamed me for not being able to save him. He was the youngest of all the rest of us. Super smart, skipped a few grades. He needed someone to protect him...and I couldn't do it. Everyone took his death hard...including me. I haven't seen the other boys since his funeral. And since then, I've been preparing for it to all happen again. To find out just what happened to Stu. I suppose I got my answers."

  There's silence when Henry finishes speaking, and he lifts his hand to quickly wipe away the tears threatening to spill. He finally arrives at the part of the story that he's worried the most to tell Ted. The part he knows will scare him.

  "I think Stu infected me. Partially, at least."

  Ted quickly stands up, the fear evident in his eyes. "No, but you're-"

  "Still physically conscious, yes. I believe it hasn't developed enough to make me a part of the hive, but it's trying to evolve. That's what's causing the pain I'm experiencing, and my spontaneous bouts of humming to myself. Most of the time I can't control it, but I don't mean to startle you all."

  The other man begins to pace, shaking his head as he tries to process everything he was just told. It's a lot, and Ted doesn't know what to do. Eventually, without saying anything, he starts to walk back to the door.

  But Henry can't let him walk out. Panic rises in him because he can't lose another friend. He'd lost so many so quickly. He can't lose another friend, not to these aliens again. Most of all, he can't lose another friend, especially when he thinks he just might love this one more than a friend should.

  "Ted, wait!"

  "Get away from me! You've been keeping us locked up here with you when you've been one of them the whole time! You're probably just waiting to infect us all! And I fucking trusted you!"

  The words hurt him. _I trusted you._ Words that were all too familiar. _He trusted you, Henry, and you let him die._

  This can't happen again. He'd die before he lost Ted. 

  He quickly stands from his chair and rushes over to him, and before he can fully assess his actions, he pulls him close and kisses him. It's a little awkward since Henry's not used to kissing someone and isn't used to leaning down. He can tell that Ted's shocked, but he still kisses him back. It's not the spark-flying fireworks that his hopeless romantic twenty-two-year-old self had thought of, but it's real and it's comforting above everything else, and he loves it all the same. 

  As he pulls back and looks at the man in front of him, he knows that Ted can see the bright color flashing in his eyes. And he knows he can also see those same eyes welling with tears. 

  "I can't lose another person to this, Ted. Please. I can figure out how to stop it. I will figure out how to stop it. If I can't...you can," he says firmly, looking over at his stock of shotguns, all lined and prepared for any aliens that managed to get through the gates.

  Ted follows Henry's gaze and quickly shakes his head. "No. We're not talking about that. We...we gotta get everyone else in here. Six brains are better than one, and we need every idea we got to figure it out."

  Henry had never seen the other so determined before. Or so genuine. It was as if kissing him had flipped a switch in him, or had made any walls he'd built break down.

  Perhaps Ted had done the same to him.

  As the professor just nods and watches him leave, he gets another flash of pain in his head, but not so bad that he can't stand it. It's pain he can manage. Pain he's managed for twenty-seven years, that he just passed off as headaches for far too long. 

  He knows he lied to Ted when he said he could stop it, but he needs to buy some time. He needs this time with him. To have one last lasting connection with someone before he goes. If anyone's going to kill him, he'd rather it be Ted when Henry's so far gone that he's no longer conscious of his own actions. 

  It's getting stronger, and he knows it. But he can hold on for just a little longer. He has to.

**Author's Note:**

> FUCK THAT'S THE END OKAY I DID IT
> 
> STALK ME CORNER
> 
> Instagram: @allin_ev_itable
> 
> Tumblr: @allin-ev-itable
> 
> Twitter: @allin_ev_itable


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